Apology
by Maplefrost
Summary: Oliver encounters Percy after the Battle of Hogwarts...and makes a deadly assumption. In honor of the 13th anniversary of the Battle of Hogwarts.


"Grghh...what?"

Oliver Wood let out a mumble of protest as he was shaken. When had he fallen asleep? What had happened?

"Oliver...Oliver, get up. The war is over." A hoarse, cracking voice coaxed him out of unconciousness. Oliver blinked his eyes. It was bright out, the sun just rising. He turned his head.

Destruction was everywhere. Fires were burning, smoke was rising, walls were piled onto each other. Blood was spattered here and there. Memories slowly flooded back to him: he had come to Hogwarts with Angelina, Katie, and Alicia. He had fought. Now, he was alone.

Wait. Angelina, Katie, and Alicia. Where were they?

Oliver pushed himself up, ready to search, but he was immediately pushed back down. "'Hey! What's the big idea? I have to go find-"

"I'm sure they're all fine," the voice reassured.

Oliver had to look at the person to know who it was. He couldn't recognize the raspy voice. "Percy Weasley." His robes were ripped and blood-stained. His face was spattered with blood, and his hair was askew. "People are dying left and right, Perce. I have to check on them-"

"No, you don't," Percy directed. "You need to stay here until a nurse can come check on you, make sure you don't have any injuries."

Oliver, his head aching, glared at Percy. "I'm fine, Percy! I need to go check on them, now! They could be dead, for all I know!"

"You don't know that," Percy pointed out. "They could be perfectly fine, you bloody twit."

Oliver clenched his fists. "Or they could be bleeding to death, alone," he muttered through gritted teeth.

"Which is highly unlikely, seeing as they are all notably strong and talented wizards," Percy argued. "Unless you don't think so."

"Of couse I think they're strong! And talented!" Oliver was fuming, his head in a daze.

"Then they are most likely fine!" Percy snapped.

"Dumbledore was a strong wizard. And talented! You don't see him walking around, do you?" Oliver retorted. Percy blinked. Oliver, for a moment, had the rare satisfaction of proving Percy 'know-it-all' Weasley wrong. It wasn't long before he remembered that he was angry.

"I'm not a Weasley, Percy. I have to find them. We don't all have guaranteed life insurance."

Percy's eyes narrowed behind his glasses. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Oliver rolled his eyes. "Stop it, Weasley. I know you're far from daft. We all know that the Weasleys are close to Harry. Where were you during the battle, huh? In the Great Hall, doing your part by 'helping the victims'? You git! I bet none of you fired a single spell!"

Percy stared at Oliver, stunned. For a moment, Oliver thought that he'd been right. Then, Percy stood up, his face contorted with rage that he was desperately trying to contain. "Stay here, until a nurse can see you." His voice was deep and threatening. With that, Percy stalked off.

-x-X-x-

Oliver, as he had guessed, was perfectly fine. He had suffered a blow to the head, which had left him unconcious, but it was just a bump that would heal in a few days. As the nurse left him, Oliver saw a large figure coming towards him. He stood up, happy to see someone he knew that was alive.

"Hagrid. Good to see you...you know. Walking."

Hagrid nodded. "Yup. Hey, um, I was wonderin'. It looks like you aren't hurt very much, so could 'elp us move the bodies out of the Great Hall? We're trying to get them out to the families. We're almost finished, but we could use another helper."

Oliver frowned. This was it. He'd been unintentionally avoiding it for the past few hours, being unconcious and then waiting for the nurse as Percy had so threateningly demanded. Now he'd have to find out how many of his friends perished in the battle. He gave Hagrid a nod and followed him into the courtyard, where bodies where laid in alphabetical order. Families were crying, names of the dead were being called out, and tears were being shed in mass numbers. Oliver took a deep breath, and started to help the 'T's.

The work was hard and depressing, but it helped Oliver clear his head. He was dismayed to see the body of Professor Lupin among the 'L's. He saw body after body that he'd seen in a class, walking through school, in Diagon Alley, and many places elsewhere. When they got to the 'W's, Oliver sighed. This wasn't going to take long.

"Oliver! Oliver!"

An estranged voice called out to him. Oliver turned and saw Ginny approaching him, her eyes red and puffy. "Oliver, where's Percy?" Oliver blinked. He hadn't seen Percy for a while now. Last time he saw him, he was stalking off after Oliver had proved him wrong.

"Wallace!" One of the wizards helping to move the bodies called out a name. A mother and her young child walked past them to retrieve the body.

"I dunno. We had a row and he ran off-"

"A row? Oh no...how bad?" After giving his a second to respond, Ginny grabbed his shoulders and shook him. "How bad?"

"Woah, calm down, Ginny!" Oliver removed her hands from his shoulders. "I don't know. Why does it matter, anyway?"

"Warwick!" called one of the helpers. A pair of distraught parents rushed past them.

Ginny grabbed her hands with her head, and started to cry. Oliver was about to ask what was wrong, when the the rest of the Weasley family came up from behind her. They all looked exhausted, and aged beyound their years. Charlie had a firm grip on George's arm. George was staring straight ahead, his eyes glassed over.

"Did you find Percy?" Mrs. Weasley's voiced sounded desperate. Ginny shook her head.

"You were supposed to be watching him!" Mr. Weasley, uncharacteristically, yelled at her. Mrs. Weasley held him back, shushing him. Oliver was shocked. Mr. Weasley never yelled at his children.

"Why does it matter, anyway? All he was doing was helping the wounded the whole time, out of harms way, just like the rest of you. Wasn't he?"

"He doesn't know." Bill came to the realization.

"Know what?" Oliver looked from Weasley to Weasley. "Know wh-"

"Weasley!"

Mrs. Weasley closed her eyes for a moment. "Bill, Ron, go," she whispered. The two siblings nodded and walked off. A few moments later, they returned, with the body of Fred Weasley on a stretcher.

Fred. Fred Weasley. Fred Weasley was dead. The thoughts ran through Oliver's mind and the young Scot came to a horrifying realization - he had been an absolute _git. _His heart sank as he thought of something else.

"Mrs. Weasley," Oliver murmured, without looking at her. "Why is Charlie holding George?"

The Weasleys glanced at each other, known of them wanting to answer. Finally, Charlie cleared his throat. "We're afraid he'll kill himself if we let him."

A choking noise came from the back of Oliver's throat. "Oh God..." He felt sick. He wanted to die. He wanted to curl up in a ball and never get up. He smacked himself in the head with the palm of his hand. "Oh God..." Then, the last thought clicked into place. "Ginny...watching Percy..."

"NO!"

Oliver screamed. He turned and bolted, running blindly. "PERCY!" He shouted into the wind, his voice on the edge of cracking. "PERCY!" His head whipped left and right, desperate to spot the bright red hair of his childhood friend. Percy couldn't die...Percy could_ not_ die...

Eventually, he found himself running towards the bridge. It was there that he spotted Percy, standing next to the bridge, peering over the edge of the cliff. He bent his knees.

"_PETRIFICUS TOTALUS_!" Oliver screamed, his wand shooting out of his robes. Percy froze and toppled backward. Oliver ran up to the lifeless Weasley, and slipped his arms under him. He carried him bridal style until they were far away from the bridge. He pointed his wand at Percy. "_Rennervate._"

"How DARE you?" Percy shot up, but Oliver grabbed his shoulders before he could escape and pinned the smaller man to the ground. "Get your hands OFF me, you brute!" Percy struggled, but the Keeper was much stronger. After about a minute of struggling, Percy gave up with a sigh of defeat.

The two of them remained like this for a long time. Finally, Percy swallowed, and raised his eyes to meet Oliver's.

"Why?"

Oliver blinked. "Why what?"

"Shut up, you git." Percy's voice was distorted, and it almost sounded inhuman. It was deeper than usually, and harsh. "Why did you stop me from jumping?" The question was asked with such hatred, that it almost sounded like an insult.

"Why?" Oliver was stunned. "Because you have friends who care about you! A job that needs you! A family who loves you and needs you now more than ever! I know his death is hard, but Fred wou-"

"DON'T!" Percy let out a howl of fury, and pushed up against Oliver. The unsuspecting Scot had to force all of his strength onto Percy to keep him down. "DON'T SAY HIS NAME!"

"Fine, I won't. But why would you do this? Your family needs you, Perce!"

"No, they don't!" Percy yelled, but he was a little softer. "They don't need me."

Feeling sucessful now that Percy had calmed down, Oliver's grip softened slighty. "And why do you say that?"

"Because..." Percy waited a moment, tears pricking at his eyes. "Because it's my fault."

Oliver opened his mouth to protest, but Percy cut him off. "Don't even start!" he snapped. "I distracted him! I made a stupid joke, and he was looking towards me when the wall fell..."

Oliver sighed. "Oh, Percy..." He didn't know what to say. "It isn't your fault. And even if it was, that's no reason to commit suicide! Your family is worried sick about you!"

Percy sniffed. "No they're not. I betrayed them. I was a fool."

"No, Perce!" Oliver shook him lightly. "They're out in the courtyard, certain that you've already...done the deed."

Percy's eyes widened. "They...they are?" Oliver nodded, his eyes bright. "Then...can you get off of me? I promise I won't..."

Oliver, understanding, helped Percy up. He slung an arm around Percy's shoulders, and the two Gryffindors started to walk back to the courtyard. Percy turned his head to look at Oliver.

"Oliver?"

"Yes?"

Percy paused. "Why'd you come after me?"

For a moment, Oliver didn't have an answer. "Because I made an assumption, and was wrong, and I was a git. A huge one, at that. And we used to be friends, you know? I didn't want...you to...you know..."

Percy nodded. He sighed. "I'm sorry," he murmured.

"No, Perce." Oliver stopped, bringing both of them to a halt. He stared at Percy. "I'm sorry."


End file.
